ON Stage is the cultural magazine of the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai, and features authoritative stories on the performing arts.
News
The inseparability of art and human existence, the civilising impact of the visual and performing arts, and the humaneness that they nurture were themes Dr. Farokh E. Udwadia addressed with great eloquence and erudition, sprinkling them with poetic interludes, at the 2021 edition of the Jamshed Bhabha Memorial Lectures. We
Music Education
In the final part of the series on the NCPA’s collection of musical instruments, we take you through the ins and outs of a prized pipe organ gifted to the NCPA circa 1988. We also bring to the fore top-notch pianos that light up many a recital across our
News
From pursuing higher education in prestigious conservatoires to winning laurels in international competitions, the students of the SOI Music Academy are going places Soli Cyrus Nallaseth was among the first students of the SOI Music Academy, where he studied piano under Aida Bisengalieva. A student of the instrument since the
News
Ahead of the second Jamshed Bhabha Memorial Lecture, Chairman Mr. Khushroo N. Suntook reflects on the qualities that make Dr. Bhabha and Dr. Farokh E. Udwadia, the distinguished speaker for this year, kindred souls. August 21 marks a date when our beloved founder Dr. Jamshed Bhabha would have been 107
Music Education
The allure of music is so strong that it won’t be very long before we gather to enjoy a recital again. Until then, we learn about the importance of sourcing and caring for fine musical instruments, as we unearth fascinating stories behind the harps, violins, violas, cellos and double
News
One of the finest pianists of India, the story of Rumi Nanavati’s life in music deserves an audience of its own. By Snigdha Hasan In a world where renown is quantifiable in terms of Google results and number of followers, an internet search for Rumi Nanavati yields but two
News
With inputs from Gian Ganzarolli, Consultant to the NCPA for opera, who gives us a sweeping overview of what has been happening across venues in Europe during the pandemic, we bring you the latest from centres of culture the world over that are thinking outside the box to make live
Know Your Composer
A composition inspired by nature and aspiring to the impulse of liberation that a bird in flight represents, Ralph Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending is also a gentle love letter to the rolling English countryside. By Jehangir Batiwala Never underestimate nature. The truth of this statement normally becomes apparent
News
From an introductory music education programme and an all-India Western classical music competition to students of the SOI Music Academy making it to international conservatoires, a lot is happening at the Symphony Orchestra of India. Since the beginning of the lockdown in March last year, the NCPA, under the leadership
News
Early on in the lockdown, the Chairman and senior management at the NCPA recognised the need for a digital platform to take its vast archival treasures and newly recorded productions to members, patrons and a worldwide audience. As the mammoth undertaking moves towards its realisation, a look at how the
Interviews
Separated by half a century and united in their mission, there is a common thread that runs through the history of the NCPA in Mumbai and the Esplanade in Singapore. Both sit on reclaimed land where once the waters of the Arabian Sea and Singapore Straits respectively flowed and both
Opinion
Isolation appears to have taken an unexpected turn for the Resident Conductor of the SOI, Mikel Toms. The longer the current lockdown drags on, the more you may have noticed my increasing resemblance to Napoleon. Certainly, once a fortnight as I stand beslippered in my back garden, sawing away at
